Indian sports are professionalizing, it's about time! Of course, the first sport to go pro is Cricket. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was started last year in the abbreviated Twenty20 format of Cricket that makes matches ~3hrs long (instead of the old one-day matches, or worse yet the 3 to 5 day test matches). The league is so pro that they allow international players and 2 teams in the league even went for >$110M USD a couple of years ago--of course this is still tiny compared to US teams, but it's a start.
Below are the 8 teams in the league:
Since it's a new league, I get to decide what my team is. I'm terribly torn: my family is from Hyderabad, so the Deccan Chargers? I live in Bombay, so the Mumbai Indians (the Yankees of IPL)? Can I just pick a team based on whose name I like best? I'm a huge fan of Chennai Super Kings' name (I'm convinced they only chose the name b/c the Punjab team already picked 'Kings' and they wanted to one-up the Punjabis).
Below are the 8 teams in the league:
Since it's a new league, I get to decide what my team is. I'm terribly torn: my family is from Hyderabad, so the Deccan Chargers? I live in Bombay, so the Mumbai Indians (the Yankees of IPL)? Can I just pick a team based on whose name I like best? I'm a huge fan of Chennai Super Kings' name (I'm convinced they only chose the name b/c the Punjab team already picked 'Kings' and they wanted to one-up the Punjabis).
I'm going to my first IPL match on Saturday, watching the Mumbai Indians play the Bangalore Royal Challengers (btw, these are the 2 most expensive teams mentioned earlier--Yanks v Sox Indian style!). We're pre-gaming the match. I love that Indians pick-up American cultural habits so quickly. Woot-woot for tailgating a cricket match, now that's classy!
This might be a subject of another post, but how exactly does one pregame in India? I'd want to drink nothing but G&T's with the weather and all, but is that like queuing up "God Save the Queen" at an Irish bar?
ReplyDeleteI vote for the Chargers. Hometown + their logo would look very badass on a replica jersey. Wear the Indians logo around and people might start thinking you're advertising for a cut-rate supplier of hand tools and circular saws.
Actually, I think that's exactly what we're doing for the pre-game, G&T's. It is a gentleman's sport after all.
ReplyDeleteGood point regarding Chargers. They were also the champions last year (they're not doing as well this yr though). I really don't get the Mumbai Indians team name and symbol--why wouldn't they go for something lighter? Excessively patriotic and obfuscating at the same time!
Since it's such a gentleman's sport, I hope you've found a way to secure a supply of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Q-Tonic-Premium-Water/dp/B001CDVCGA